First, in exciting local beer news, City Barrel Brewing is doing a small round of distribution and we'll be receiving two of their beers in 4pk cans! City Barrel opened just a few short months ago in the crossroads. Focusing on hoppy, wild, and sour beers, they've already made a splash and we're psyched to join the party.

In addition to drinking more Margs this summer, I’m also making an effort to include more local products in my concoctions. If years of working in local restaurants and retail have taught me anything, it’s that we all have to make a conscious effort to support those in our communities, or they may not stand the test of time.

As rosé continues to trend upwards at an almost unstoppable pace (in no way am I complaining), the long-standing Mediterranean trend of chilled red wine in the summer months has yet to hit stateside. A few rebel winemakers and sommeliers across the country are setting out to change all that. Red wine isn’t just for cold weather anymore.

In 2011, when I first began my journey through the ranks of the Court of Master Sommeliers, the pinnacle grape of Austria, Grüner Veltliner, was a complete unknown to me. It was a wine that I quickly set out to experience.

Tuesday April 9th in the Brookside tasting room, I’ll be holding a sit-down lambic class/tasting. I’ll be talking about the history of the style, the spontaneous fermentation that is the cornerstone of its production, the varied subsets of the style, as well as plenty of other nerdy anecdotal ramblings.

A new year means new beer! This coming Tuesday the 15th we will be releasing our next local collaboration, Barrel-Aged Mansion Brew. We teamed up with two of our favorite local companies for this special brew. We went down to J. Rieger and picked out a Cafe Amaro barrel, which we dumped that day and immediately transported to Torn Label Brewing.

Thanksgiving may be over, but we’re always thankful beer exists. Now that you’ve digested that bird... let’s get back to beer! Our collaboration hazy IPA with Double Shift (Andy and I got to help brew this!) is still on growlers and is tasting fantastic! “Y-ZAH!” is a 7.8% ABV hazy IPA with loads of juicy hops. In addition to Y-zah, we have lots of other exciting beer in, hoppy and otherwise. Maplewood Brewing launched in the KC market, and new releases keep coming from Fat Orange Cat, Evil Twin, and Central State Brewing (among many others) Also...lambic (‘nuff said!)

If I had a nickel for every time someone asked me “what’s your favorite wine,” I would in fact be a rich man. Many times, as people do, I’ve contemplated what if I could only choose one. While choosing a single bottle would be immediately written off as an impossible task, I honestly believe I could drink wine from a single region for the rest of my life, with no complaint. Said region would just need to fulfill everything I love about wine, in every possible style, and only one region on earth could fulfill that tall order. Burgundy.